Back To Prabhupada, Issue 76, Vol. 1, 2023
HH Jayadvaita Swami ("JAS") has become one of the most famous/infamous personalities in ISKCON due to the controversy over his having made thousands of "changes/edits" to Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is. We have covered this topic in previous issues. However, regardless of the validity of JAS's "editing", having made so many changes to Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita, JAS should at the very least be familiar with the contents of the book that he so very thoroughly "revised". We shall see below if indeed that is the case, with the quotes in shaded boxes being from a "Questions and Answers" session which JAS gave on 2/12/22. All emphases added.
"in the event that the spiritual master in some way falls down, one should wait for some time and see, because if he comes back to the standard, then what was the problem? Obviously, it's a problem, it's not very good, but it's set aside."
JAS here claims that a bona fide spiritual master can deviate. What does the Bhagavad-gita he "edited" state?:
"the conclusion is that a spiritual master who is one hundred percent Krsna conscious is the bona fide spiritual master"
(Bg., 2.8, purport)
"A bona fide spiritual master is in the disciplic succession from time eternal, and he does not deviate at all from the instructions of the Supreme Lord"
(Bg., 4.42, purport)
Note, in the quotes above, and those which follow, to make our points even stronger against JAS, we will only quote from his "edited" Bhagavad-gita, rather than the original. And yet, it still clearly states that the bona fide spiritual master will not fall down.
Devotee: "My first guru, we had some problems [...] "
JAS: "it's in line with expectations [...] Prabhupada says we're fighting at war against the illusory energy. [...] mama maya is daivi hy esa, divinely empowered, so if someone falls, well, we've expected some people to fall"
JAS references Bg., 7.14: "mama maya is daivi hy esa". This verse states that:
"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome."
JAS thus quotes it to support his contention that a bona fide spiritual master can fall, since Krsna's divine maya energy is "difficult to overcome". However, the purport to this verse clearly states that this verse is referring specifically only to the "conditioned soul", and that therefore he needs to specifically be rescued by the bona fide spiritual master who is not conditioned:
"it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself – he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated. Therefore, only Lord Krsna, or His bona fide representative the spiritual master, can release the conditioned soul."
Thus, far from Bg., 7.14 supporting the idea that a bona fide spiritual master can be overcome by maya, it actually states the exact opposite: the spiritual master is the person who can help others be rescued from being overcome, specifically because he himself does not become similarly overcome.
"it's not very lightly that one gives up the shelter of the spiritual master. In the Bhagavad-gita, "api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak sadhur eva, eva sa mantavyah", he must be considered saintly even if he's done something very much contrary to standard"
JAS here refers to Bg., 9.30, which states:
"Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination."
JAS quotes it to support his contention that, rather than automatically giving up the shelter of a deviant spiritual master, one should consider him saintly. However, as the purport to this verse explains, the verse applies specifically to one who is a conditioned soul:
"Now, in the conditioned state, sometimes devotional service and the conditional service in relation to the body will parallel one another. [...] As long as one is not strong enough to fight the illusory energy, there may be accidental falldowns. But when one is strong enough, he is no longer subjected to such falldowns, as previously explained."
Thus, this cannot even be referring to the bona fide spiritual master, because, according to the quotes from the Bhagavad-gita given in the previous sections, he is not conditioned or subject to the illusory energy. Thus, this verse is not even relevant to the argument JAS is trying to make about a bona fide spiritual master.
Though JAS does not appear to have even read Srila Prabhupada's books carefully, he is keen to promote reading the books of others:
Devotee: "what about like reading books written by other devotees when I haven't finished Srimad-Bhagavatam? [...]"
JAS: "[...] I don't know of a Vedic injunction or a Prabhupada rule that until you've finished, you know, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, [...] you can't read any other book."
JAS claims that there is no "Prabhupada rule" that you should at least read all of Srila Prabhupada's books before reading anything else. Well, actually there is, and here it is. When the issue came up about whether the books of the previous acaryas should be read, it was stated that one should follow the ‘Prabhupada rule' that JAS claimed doesn't exist:
Jayadharma: "First of all we must read all your books."
Srila Prabhupada: "Yes."
(Morning Walk, 13/5/75)
In the same conversation, it was also stated by Srila Prabhupada that reading the books of the previous acaryas "is already there" just by reading only all of his books, which is consistent with Srila Prabhupada's many other instructions that only his books should be read – please see here for the evidence.
It would have been better for JAS to have read and understood the Bhagavad-gita instead of trying to find "errors" in it to "correct".
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